Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Anemia during pregnancy is a common problem in developing countries and affects both the
mother’s and her child’s health. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of and the factors
associated with anemia among pregnant women.
METHODS: Facility based cross-sectional study design was conducted from June to August, 2011 on 374 pregnant
women. Mothers who came for ANC during the study period and who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed
and a capillary blood sample was taken. Hemoglobin level was determined by using HemoCue photometer, and
interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were cleaned, coded and fed into SPSS
version 16.0 for analysis.
RESULT: The mean hemoglobin concentration was 12.05 1.5 g/dl and prevalence of anemia was 36.6%. Family
sizes (COR=2.67, CI (1.65, 4.32), third trimester (COR=1.45, CI (1.11, 2.23), meat consumption <1x/wk (COR=3.47,
CI (1.58, 7.64) and pica (COR=2.33, CI (1.52, 3.58) were significantly associated with anemia. Having five or more
children (AOR=5.2, CI [1.29, 21.09]), intake of vegetables and fruits less than once per day (AOR= 6.7, CI [2.49,
17.89]), intake of tea always after meal (AOR = 12.83.CI [45-28.9]), and recurrence of illness during pregnancy
(AOR=7.3, CI [2.12-25.39]) were factors associated with anemia.
CONCLUSION: This study showed that anemia is a moderate public health problem. Less frequent meat and
vegetable consumption, parity ≥5 are risk factors for anemia. Therefore, reducing parity, taking balanced diet and
use of mosquito nets during pregnancy are recommended.
